Mindbadger

Koji draws cards off enemy scheme markers being dropped and can remove them to get a positive on his melee, Kara can get an attack from the gang warfare trigger by removing an enemy scheme marker and the Amai's can get blast markers from them on their ranged attack. The card draw is probably the biggest thing, but you're probably picking them in a non-heavy-scheming pool, or when you can counteract it easily.

I love monsters, so naturally the Neverborn were the obvious choice. However, the Huungering Darkness was such a cool model, I couldn't say no. Loved the hand/deck manipulation so I'm glad I picked them up. I worked my way through a few Neverborn masters, some clicked more than others, but a friend got me Austera and Twigge, who I think has to be one of my favourite models in the game. I ordered the Seeker keyword, but they were sold out for so long that I ended up getting Syndicate first and I loved their gameplay! Hugely flexible, can switch between scheming and killing. Definitely not the toughest but I get fun games from them.

I've tried her with Dreamer 1 and I would say the biggest thing she has is her stat 7, 12" range willpower attack. Not so much for the damage and injured, but to force WP duel fails so that you can summon or heal from it. She also adds a bit of card draw, card filtering and a potentially very damaging attack. She definitely isn't a must pick, but she isn't too bad at what she does.

I'm a bit less high on the urn bearers. They seem a bit too awkward. They need to be close to the action to get their shielded, but they will most likely get killed. Your models need to move towards them to get the heal, but most of the time they will not be up front, so that is hard to get. I see them being good turn 1 for unpack and a bit of set up, but then a bit tough to use after that. I could see Kastore 1 working with 2 Cave Nephilim, can put out decent damage with lots of scheming potential. I'd be tempted to put Barbaros with Kastore 2, have them run in and smash stuff whilst being supported by your other models. Gwyll and Alorak seem solid for support, White Eyes as a solo on the side. The Atlas guy seems like a decent tech piece but I'm worried he might be a bit slow. I think the benefits of running them in Rezzers will definitely be the upgrades, which are much stronger imo. Neverborn has some good versatiles though (I'm thinking staggered synergies for Kastore 1).

I thought Kastore 1 was a bit straightforward, but this guy is definitely less subtle! There is no doubting he's strong, but Returned seems like the least complex of the new keywords. Guy hits like a truck though! Seeing the rest of the Keyword, it does make Kastore 1's friendly-killing trigger a bit confusing. Difficult to use it on the Blood Vessel, with their hard to kill. I guess the Urn Bearers? Everything else doesn't seem as expendable.

Would be interested to know too, but more interested to see all those sweet, sweet spoilers!

Has anyone tried using Crypsis Corps with him? Obviously Cooper 2 shines with beasts but the +1 to Patient Strike could be powerful if you line it up right or on the right maps. Not sure it's worth focusing on, but wondered if anyone had given it a go?

I find it very difficult to not include the solid Seeker enforcers... I tend to go with The Kurgan, Grave Goo, The Damned, Austera and Twigge and like to bring Mikhail too. This leaves room for either a Surveyor or a Lamp Lighter. Obviously this is less likely to max out the 3 Life Tokens and 2 focus on Jedza on turn 1 (though far from impossible) but I find the enforcers more than make up for it, instead of going all in on Jedza. A&T and the Damned don't feed directly into Jedza 2's gameplan, but they are all round solid models and pretty much always pull their weight.

I really like the look of the Yaksha, I'll definitely try at least one of them out. I feel like they will be good in Jedza 2, if you set them up in severe terrain, Planted Roots will give Jedza a Life Token from the get go, as will Earth's remedy. Outside that, they are reasonably tanky, mobile model for 5 points. I feel like the need for severe terrain might make them a bit dependent on good maps. They should be able to count models like Moorwraiths and The Kurgan as severe terrain though, right? I'm fairly sure there is some uncertainty there ruling wise. I don't know if I'd bother giving them any upgrades nor plan around their melee trigger. I see that trigger as a nice bonus rather than a build around.

I guess it depends why you're changing the ability. Sure, it could be implemented better, the Vivid Nightmare ability was definitely implemented as an emergency stop to Lucid Dream being too powerful, but Nightmare isn't exactly a weak keyword. If they were struggling, then maybe it could be changed, but I think at this point, I'd prefer changes to focus on balance rather than flavour. Both would be ideal, but I'd prefer balance if I had to choose. Dreamer 2 makes good use of Lucid Dreams in a different way. If you really want full power Lucid Dreams, you can always hire Widow Weaver or Chompy as your leader. Or suicide Dreamer 1 in on turn 1! (Use either of these methods at your own discretion...)

I believe it is the second one.

Good effort trying her out already! I think she's tough to evaluate currently, she's a support master but without any "meaty" models to support currently. Further reveals will give a clearer picture. She definitely has some decent actions, her attack is just fine but her bonus works great with the crew. As for her triggers to shut down schemes, as Mirage is friendly only, it will require a bit more guessing and timing, it only hits the first part of schemes like Vendetta, Secret Meetup and In Your Face so it can be easy to miss those windows. Probably a good thing though, it shouldn't be that easy to nullify schemes. Remake The Old World seems more generous in timing and being able to stop more in the way of reveals and end of game. As for reasons to pick them in Explorer's, apart from your mentions, if there is a Bygone model who drops scrap (which I'd expect with Remnants Of The Aua being a bonus action on more than one revealed model), the Botanists could grow pretty fast with scrap being eaten for shielded. There is also an outside chance Jesse Halliday could find a home there, she can drop scrap, get in the way of people scoring by interacting, draw cards off scrap which is down, push enemy models, all things which seem to fit with Bygone. I'm not sure if they have enough of that already though.

Yeah, I was hoping the urn ladies would do that too, would make a lot of sense, given that there are currently no great targets for Kastore to sacrifice.

So this guy just got shown on Waldo's weekly, he seems like a beast! All of his actions seem strong, he has some great triggers, built in Show of Force on his bonus is amazing! A tanky model with a long range Take The Hit, he can even pump out some decent damage, especially with Linh Ly Storyteller handing out adversary. Red Library/Story are shaping up to be a very mobile dual Keyword, with the Story models providing the meat and the Library folk giving more controlling options. They seem good so far!

Oh wow, the Story Henchman looks like a solid tank! I'm noticing that Linh Ly has a ton of out-of-activation movement in her keywords, they are going to be incredibly mobile with heaps of small pushes all the time. Should be good for GG3 strats.

I've played her a few times now. I haven't found any crazy synergies but I have some tips. She does a crazy amount of damage, so you really want to be focusing your game around her cracking off 2 or 3 strong attacks a turn. Sophie can get her focus, models like The Kurgan, the Effigy and Surveyors can help move her up so she doesn't have to waste AP not murdering things. Get her in the thick of things, have some soulstones to tank some hits and let her go to work. As for picks, I tend to have a similar line up. Grave Goo is great and his regen gives Jedza a life token off the bat. The Kurgan is tanky, gives some mobility and utility. The Damned is fast, can kill things or scheme run. Mikhail isn't quite the unkillable force he is in Jedza 1, but he still hits hard, ties up models and the heal off his melee is always useful. Austera and Twigge are probably one of my favourite models, lots of utility, an amazing Vendetta scorer. After that, take what's needed. A Surveyor is a solid minion, movement, damage, survivable for their cost. Vernon and Welles offer more scheming, mobility (great for Carve a Path) and some defence against WP attacking crews. Jedza 2 doesn't need to focus on a bubble as much as Jedza 1, your models can spread out a bit more. You just need to be a bit more careful with them as they can get brought down when focused. Get Jedza in the middle, try to keep her reasonably healthy and she should do well for you.

There are some real hits and misses with the new models. I put the Zoraida 2 box together just a short while ago and yes, Zoraida was awful. They really need to do something about tiny, single connection points, it is incredibly frustrating for some of the thinner pieces. I just did Euripides 2 today and he was great to put together, everything went together easy, strong connection points and no confusion. The Kaltgeists were less easy, the one with the ice "whip" was pretty bad to get done, not very happy with the result. I understand that they want to make cool models, and they definitely do, but making them slightly friendlier to put together would be good. There has been plenty of times I've asked myself "Why is this bit in separate pieces?!" I wish you luck and patience in your endeavour!

I think not only is it problem of fun and thought-provoking gameplay, having a one-dimensional strategy let's enemies counter it much easier. If the enemy can get a stun onto Kastore Awakended, he's pretty much neutered. No healing from his melee, no powerful triggers from Dominate, he'll have one strong melee attack and that's it. Bountiful Feast seems a bit safe too, there would have to be quite a lot of models in range for me to consider using it over anything else. The damage and healing feels a bit low to be threatening.

Indeed, in a vacuum, I think it would suit Kastore, but for the Neverborn faction, it might not be a good fit. It's a bit of a moot point, it's not going to get changed any time soon just wishful thinking on my part. So far, I'm hoping the other Kastore gives more flexibility and has more gameplay options.

Yeah, I agree with you, I'm hoping the other Kastore has more flexibility in his actions. Awakened, while potentially powerful, is pretty much going to act the same way most turns, unless he is out of range. I find it slightly grating that Enthrall is a trigger on Dominate. It's such a powerful trigger effect on just an ok ability. Using a master AP to give a non master stunned and staggered is a little meh, but I feel like I'd be using it to purposefully get the obey effect, which generally means stoning for it or cheating in a high mask. If the other player cheats in a higher card than you have a mask, then that's it for that model. I think I would have preferred the action and trigger to be swapped. It would fit his theme of the controlling vampire, more scheme focused. Sure, it might need rebalanced if he was an obey master (especially in the same faction as Zoraida and Lucius) but it would give him more flexibility. I really like his model and theme, I would like to be more excited about his actual rules. I feel the same about Marathene (I understand this one a bit, can't go too crazy on an unkillable totem, I love this thing) and Athorak, great concepts but they will act about the same most turns. Maybe it's not the worst thing to have a more straightforward keyword but I'll admit that I have a bit of envy when I see the other Madness of Malifaux masters revealed so far.

Shout out to Corner Case for the reveal! So where Linh Ly Storyteller was more focused on the Story half of her keywords, this one cares more about the Red Library models. At first glance, they look squishy but have some ways to negate damage with some set up. Definitely some thinking and planning required, without scheme markers down, Linh Ly can get killed fast, but her bonus action helps with that. They seem quite condition based, a lot of slow and some distracted getting thrown out. The totem brings a decent amount, a scheme marker for a card, arcane reservoir and quite annoying to kill. The minions seem good. Not a huge amount of damage, I'm guessing the Story models bring that. Lots of utility and scheming though.

He does get the 3" inch move at the start of his activation to help. I think him having on 3 movement is a safety valve to stop him rampaging through squishier crews. Seems like another tanky, damage dealer in the keyword, they are shaping up to be quote tough for Gremlins. I think he will be a decent tech pick against certain crews, like Hamelin or maybe Kirai 2, where he can annihilate a bunch of small models.

Ah, I'm mistaken on that count then.

Slam wouldn't remove it, but could still move it so that it wouldn't be in a scoreable position.

Marker removal isn't that rare these days, a quick search shows you can add Pandora's Poltergeist, Euripides 2, Yan Lo 2, Neil Henry, Hoffman 2, Drachan Troopers, Changelings and Jessie Halliday to your list. There's some marker moving, as well as the slam action to possibly put the lamps out of a scoring position. It's definitely doable. But you're spending 21 stones to try and guarantee 1 point, and hopefully the second, that's a big investment. Give it a go though and see how it feels, probably the best way to find out.